Inevitable End
by Arkatox
Summary: A short fanfic for Brandon Sanderson's novel, Elantris. It is very highly recommended that you read the novel first.
1. Inevitable End

Attention: It is highly recommended that you read the novel _Elantris_ by Brandon Sanderson before reading this story. I in no way lay claim to this fictional universe, regardless of how awesome it is. Thank you.

**Inevitable End**

I lie motionless, as I always do. The sludge beneath my aching body has almost come to grow around my would-be corpse. I lie here everyday. All day. I only move at night. The creatures passing by mistake me for one of the Hoed—the very reason I lie as I do. Sometimes I let out some mumblings just to make it sound believable.

It wasn't always this way. A few years ago I was a god. Not a spiritual being, but a man with god-like powers. Back then the city had shone like a single star in the night sky. Its inhabitants were just as beautiful and full of power. All of that is gone now. Perhaps forever. Someday something random—random as in as random as the Shaod had been—might happen and randomly restore Elantris to its former glory, but that is a far away dream.

I open my eyes, just barely, and look at the city life around me. In truth I should not call it city life. City death is more fitting. Elantrians are dead, after all. Most of the non-Hoed inhabitants are either insane or on the brink of insanity. I, myself, only stay alive from hiding all day, even if it is in plain sight.

Bored of watching the same dull people walk by, I close my eyes again.

"Edoen," a voice speaks from nearby. My eyes snap open—a mistake, once I see to whom the voice belongs. A tall, broad-shouldered Dula had been watching me a short distance away. I had failed to notice him because his bald, Elantrian head had looked just like any other. The man blinks once he sees that I'm awake. Oops, I just blew my cover.

With a growl, the Dula steps forward, hateful eyes aimed in my direction, bearing into me. In an instant a hop to my feet—ignoring pain in both legs and my left thigh—grab a handful of the sludge, and hurl it at the abnormality in my day. The Dula catches the sludge and drops it to the ground as I dart away through the catacomb of streets making up the great city. I hear Duladen swearing behind me, then heavy footsteps. One pair of footsteps quickly turns into a dozen, as I am forced to run for my life—or further death, as you might say.

Suddenly, the portion of my back between my right shoulder and my neck explodes in pain. It becomes apparent that my pursuers are throwing rocks at me, any of which could be deadly and send me into the actual Hoed. Two stones zip past my head as I realize how close to the eternal pain I actually am. I keep running, however, until a huge rock slams into the back of my knee. I stumble to the ground, and the sludge, and listen as the footsteps get closer and closer. They stopped throwing rocks, because they will try to torture me, now that I'm wounded. I have one final plan, and it's ever unlikely to work. Nonetheless I wait, as the footsteps get closer, closer, closer…

My name is Edoen, and I was an Elantrian. I am still, though before long I may but just a mumbling pile of broken bones, never healing, never dying. Who am I really? How did I come to be in this situation? I will tell you someday. That is, if I can survive what will inevitably be my end.

Thanks for reading! Go to the next chapter for Behind the Scenes!


	2. Behind the Scenes

**Inevitable End – Behind the Scenes**

I would not be telling you the truth if I told you that the moment I finished _Elantris_ I got the inspiration to write a fanfic. In truth, I got it while reading the very first chapter. When I started reading about the great city I thought, "Wow, this would make an _awesome_ location for a short story!" However, I figured it would be best to wait until I read the next 600 pages and finished the book (good thinking, eh?). This short story didn't turn out completely how I wanted, but then again, nothing I write ever does.

The idea of an Elantrian staying alive—or at least more so than the Hoed—by playing dead also came to me while reading the first chapter. I thought, "Considering what Elantrians can come to be able to endure, staying still 24/7 for eternity really wouldn't be as difficult as one might think." In the end I changed it so that Edoen only played Hoed during the day, and moved around at night.

The name Edoen—at the end of the novel _Elantris_ there is a dictionary for the most-known Aons. Since all names (at least those from Arelon and Toed) seem to be partially based on Aons, I wanted to do the same with my unfortunate Elantrian character. I wanted to use an Aon that Sanderson already created, but also one without any in-book people named after it. After some careful consideration I picked Edo. It means "protection" or "safety".

Last of all, numerous times in the book I wondered why Raoden and the Elantrians in New Elantris never threw rocks Shaor's attacking men. Think of how effective it would be to throw a stone at an Elantrian's face. The least it would do would be to annoy the heck out of them for eternity, and the most it would do would be to send the unfortunate creature into the living hell of the Hoed. In other words, they would be extremely effective. Thus, I decided to implement this weapon into my story—and it very nearly sent Edoen to the Hoed. Perhaps there just aren't any stones in Elantris, but there was no mention whether or not there were.

So did Edoen escape? We may never know. Last time I heard from him, he was about to be attacked by a savage gang led by a Dula. Either way, I'm sure he's alive now, since Elantris has been restored. That is, unless that malicious Dula burned him.


End file.
